1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mechanism to produce natural motions, or self-motion, of animate and inanimate bodies or of their parts. The mechanism produces motion by coupling, or modulating, mechanical pulses that are generated on the surface, or inside, of the bodies.
2. Background Art
Self-motion denotes the motions produced from within the moving body. The specific mechanical mechanism responsible for self-motion has not been identified before. Historically, Aristotle attributed the natural motions, or self-motion, to xe2x80x9csoul,xe2x80x9d Sir Isaac Newton attributed such motions to a xe2x80x9cmost subtle spirit,xe2x80x9d and John Locke, David Hume and others suggested that the mechanism might never be discovered. The inventor has conducted extensive research and many tests to discover the mechanical mechanism responsible for natural motions, or self-motion. The present invention shows how to produce natural motions on horizontal surfaces and up or down inclined surfaces by the application of mechanical pulses to bodies as described herein. In the prior art, the wheel has been the primary mechanism for motion, requiring the use of gears, clutches, shafts, cams, linkages and other mechanical components to produce motion. By contrast, living bodies do not use wheels for motion. Just as living muscles convert the pulses from the nervous system into motion in one step, so the mechanical mechanism of this invention converts artificially generated mechanical pulses into motion in one step.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a novel and an unobvious method by which animate or inanimate bodies or their parts can be made to move with different speeds, gaits and forms by applying mechanical pulses on the surface of, or within, the body. In a typical embodiment of the invention, mechanical pulses can be induced by attaching one, two or more motors on the surface, or inside, of the body; by attaching unbalanced masses to the motors"" shafts, and by rotating the unbalanced masses so as to pulse the body at the motors"" locations. The dynamic coupling or modulation of the oscillatory waves which travel within the body, and which are caused by the pulses, produces the desired motions. Here, energy is converted into motion in one step, i.e., turn on the pulses, and motion results instantly